"The first pancake is usually a mess. The pan is too hot or not hot enough, or there's not enough butter. The first pancake is not the high-water mark for how good pancakes can be. It is a trial balloon."
"Off-Campus, Prime Video's new hockey-romance series, is the first pancake. Unlike Heated Rivalry, whichuses the sport to explore an angsty, queer, secret enemies-to-lovers romance, Off-Campus 's hockey-team frameworktargets all the tropes that come with a sweet, straight college rom-com."
"The premiere opens with Hannah Wells (Ella Bright), a music major with a crush on the aloof lead singer (Josh Heuston) of the popular campus band, catching the attention ofGarrett Graham (Belmont Cameli), a star hockey captain with a former-pro dad who happens to need some tutoring in the philosophy class where Hannah just got an A on her paper. Hannah and Garrett make a deal: In exchange for Hannah's tutoring Garrett so he can stay on the hockey team, Garrett will form a fake relationship with Hannah to make her crush jealous."
"Unfortunately, as Hannah and Garrett become persistently adorable and loving toward one another, Off-Campus loses its grip on what makes them compelling. Both characters need toaddress traumas from their younger years, which gives them both a turn to be sad: Hannah is still working through being the terrible period in high school when she was roofied and sexually assaulted, while Garrett resents his abusive father's overbearing expectations."
The first pancake is treated as a trial run that does not reflect the potential of what comes next. Off-Campus is positioned as Prime Video’s hockey-romance series, built around college rom-com tropes rather than a queer enemies-to-lovers approach. Adapted from Elle Kennedy’s book series, it follows a meet-cute, a fake relationship, and gradual love between a horny main couple supported by found-family acceptance. Hannah Wells, a music major, and Garrett Graham, a hockey captain, strike a deal involving tutoring and a fake dating scheme to provoke jealousy. The fake relationship turns into genuine feelings, but the show’s momentum slips as both characters are pushed into sadness tied to past trauma.
Read at Vulture
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